Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Detection of Abnormal Prion Protein by Immunohistochemistry
Published on: May 5, 2023
PRNP haplotype associated with classical BSE incidence in European Holstein cattle
Brenda M Murdoch1, Michael L Clawson, Samuel Yue
1Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. bmurdoch@ualberta.ca
Background:
Classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is an acquired prion disease of cattle. The bovine prion gene (PRNP) contains regions of both high and low linkage disequilibrium (LD) that appear to be conserved across Bos taurus populations. The region of high LD, which spans the promoter and part of intron 2, contains polymorphic loci that have been associated with classical BSE status. However, the complex genetic architecture of PRNP has not been systematically tested for an association with classical BSE.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
In this study, haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (htSNPs) within PRNP were used to test for association between PRNP haplotypes and BSE disease. A combination of Illumina goldengate assay, sequencing and PCR amplification was used to genotype 18 htSNPs and 2 indels in 95 BSE case and 134 control animals. A haplotype within the region of high LD was found to be associated with BSE unaffected animals (p-value=0.000114).
Conclusion/Significance:
A PRNP haplotype association with classical BSE incidence has been identified. This result suggests that a genetic determinant in or near PRNP may influence classical BSE incidence in cattle.
Related Concept Videos
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...

